Apparatus for dosing liquids



Dec. 19, 1933. c w so 1,939,938

APPARATUS FOR DOSING LIQUIDS Filed Dec. 22, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l DCC. cWILSON APPARATUS FOR DOSING LIQUIDS Filed D80. 22, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet Qfit R NO Q0 m w a (\N Y I -Patentecl Dec. 19, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENQ-TFICE APPARATUS FOR DOSING LIQUIDS :(Larl Wilson, Los-Angeles, balif 7Application December '22, 1930 Serial No. 504,140 j Claims, (01. 210-21)the liquid will be. strictly, proportioned to the volume of flowthereof.

Another object is to provide .an apparatus which will discontinueoperation should the flow 'of liquidcease from any source, the operationbeing automatically and instantly 'commenced whenthe flow of the liquidis resumed.

A- still further object is to provide automatically operating apparatusby means of which solutions of one or more chemicals such as chlorine,hypochlorite, ferric. chloride, coagulants, softening preparations andthe like can befedat predetermined rates ofldosage, A Another object isto-pro'vide dosage appara- Jtus of this characterwhich will operateefficiently and automatically under all conditions to maintain theproper proportion of chemicals and liquid under treatment. 7 V

. Withtheforegoing and other objectsin view which-will appear ,as. thedescription proceeds, theinvention resides in the-combination andarrangementof parts and in the detailsof construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed,- it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention:

.In the accompanying drawings, the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.- fiIn said drawings: v Figure;;1 -'is..a side elevation,more or less in diagram, showing the complete apparatus. r s "Figure 2is. a similar view showing the apparatusinplan. 7 5 I Figure 3. is" asection taken substantially through a portionof'the apparatus on line 33, Figure 2, showing the winding motor and Parts adjacent thereto..Ifigure 4 isaan enlarged section on line 4-4, Figure- 3. :1

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1 and 2 designatedisplacement chambers'whichcan be of any desiredshape and size. Withinthe chamber 1 is supported a displacement plunger 3 and anotherdisplacement plunger 4 is movably supported in the chamber 2.1Theseplungers are supported by cables or other, flexible elements 5 and 6respectively which can be extended over suitable guide sheaves,landsecured to a drum 8 on which they'are' adapted'to be wound inopposite directions as shown particularly in Figure 2.

A supply tank 9 or other suitable source of treatment liquid is locatedwherever desired and has means such .as pipes 10 for delivering thetreatment liquid to the respective displacement chambers. Each of thedisplacement chambers may be provided with a float 11 connected to alever 12 carrying a valve 13 so that when the level of thetreatmentliquidin .either chamber falls below a certain point the valve13 will open 'to admit a supply of treatment liquid sufficient to raisethe float, close'the valve and cut off the supply. The parts working inthedisplacement chambers canall be made of any suitable material capableof resisting the actionof the chemicals used for treatment purposes. gjObviously the displacementchambers can be located at any point desiredand while they have been shown of the same size, they can be ofdifferent sizes and can be provided withseparate sources of supply.Each' of the displacement chambers has an outlet 14' leading toa pipe,conduit, chamber, treatment plant or the like indi-' cated generally at15 :and throughwhich the liquid to be treated is adapted to flow.

In the operationof this apparatus it is designed gradually to lower oneof therplungers 7 into its displacement chamber so as to cause thetreatment liquid in said chamber to flow tothe outlet 14in'predetermi'ned volume and *thence to' the liquid conductor l5. Onedisplacement of the flowing liquidunder treatment whereby the operationof the displacement plunger or plungerswill .be under constant automaticcontrol. Various means may be provided for this purpose; In the" presentinstance there has been shown a'nes'capement wheel 16 therotation'ofwhich is controlled by a pallet 17 adapted to be oscillated byjapitnia'n 18 connected to a rotatable element '19. I I V The element, 19is driven bychainan'd sprocket mechanism 20 or other suitable means from,a motor indicated at ,21 which is to bepropelled :by the 'liquid vtheconductor 15. This motor ,can be inthe form of a turbi'napropeller,pad- 1 shaft of an electric motor 45.

1 its other end against-lever 30.

'toaolose a circuit to the motor 45.

dle wheel or the like capable of being operated by a current of liquid.

A gear 22 rotates with the escapement wheel 16 and transmits motion byany suitable means, such as a train of reduction gears 23 to a shaft 24.This shaft, in turn, transmits motion through. trains of gears 25 and 26to opposed clutch members 2'7 and 28 respectively which are mounted forrotation on the shaft 29 of drum 8. The gears of one train, 25, act torotate clutch member 27 in a clockwise direction while the train 26rotates clutch member 28 in a counter-clockwise direction.

Shaft 29 has a double clutch member 30 feathered on it so as to rotatewiththe shaft but be capable of sliding thereon. This shiftable clutchmember is adapted to engage either of the clutch members 27 and 28 forthe purpose of coupling it to shaft 29. One end portion of shaft 29 isscrew-threaded as shown at 31. This threaded portion engages andactuates feed nut 32 carried by an arm 33 one end of which slidablyengages a guide 34. Arm 33 is extended from a rod 35'which can also bemounted in a guide 36. This rod has a slot 37 through which extends one'arm of a shifting lever 38 the other arm of which engages inan annulargroove 39'form'ed in the shiftable clutch member 30.

A rod 40 is pivotally connected to lever 38 and is slidable and mountedto oscillate in a post 41. A coiled spring 42 is mounted on this rod andbears at one end against post 41 and at Thus the spring acts on thelever to hold it in either of two extreme positions.

Mounted for rotation on the shaft 24 is a power drum 43 connected bygears 44 to the A cable or other flexible element 46 is secured to andadapted to be wound on the power drum 43 and supports an operatingweight 47. On this cable at pointssuitably spaced are adjustable collars43 and 49. The cable 46 works freely within an arm 50 extended betweenthe collars 48 and 49 and projecting from a slidable switch 51. Thisswitchis so constructed that. when weight 47 moves downwardly to oneextreme position, col.- lar 49 will engage and shift arm 50 and causethe switch 51 to move; against contacts 52 so as Thus motion will betransmitted from the motor through gears 44 to drum43 which will be.rotated on shaft 24 to wind the cable or other flexible connection 46 onthe drum. As the weight 47 is brought to the upper limit of its movementthe collar 48 will comeagainst arm 50 and shaft 51 to break the circuitto the motor and thereby stop further winding action. The weight can nowdescend by gravity and will causethe drum. 43 to revolve. This drum isconnected to the shaft by a ball clutch 53 or the like such as shown forexample in Figure 4 so that rotation of the drumund'er the action of theweight will cause the shaft 24 to rotate and will also transmit motionpositively to the escapement wheel 16 and the'drum 8. 1

Obviously the pallet 1'7 limits the speed ofrotation of the escapementwheel and, consequently, the speed of descent of weight'47 and 'of'oneof the'displac'ement plungersl This escapement "wheel can only'rotate ata speed dependent on the speed of oscillation of the pallet'and thisacmotor 21. Thus theparts can be sotimed with respect to the volume offlow of liquid within the conductor 15 as to insure delivery to saidliquid of one or more chemicals in proper proportion to the volume ofliquid flow. As one displacement plunger is descending and itssupporting connection 5 or 6 is being unwound, the other plunger will beelevated. At the same time the feed nut 32 will be moved longitudinallyof the shaft 29 until the end of slot 37 comes against lever 39 andpushes it past its dead center. Immediately thereafter the spring 42,which has been placed under compression, will act to snap lever 38' tothe other limit of its movement and throw the shiftable clutch member 30into engagement with the other clutch member 28 or 27. Consequently thedirection of rotation of shaft 29 will be reversed, the movement of thedisplacement plungers will be reversed, and the feed nut will start backin the opposite direction. After a predetermined period of movement thesame action will take place to again reverse the movement of the parts.

During all of the foregoing operations the weight 47 is pulling steadilyon drum 43, causing it to rotate intermittently at the speed permittedby the escapement mechanism which, in turn, is controlled by'the liquidflow in conductor 15. Should the flow of liquid slow down or accelerate, the speed of movement of the controlled mechanism willcorrespondingly slow down or accelerate. Should the flow of treatedliquid cease, the movement of the pallet would cease and all of themechanism would stop operating. However, when the flow. again starts themechanism controlled thereby will also begin to move and the dosing ofthe liquid will begin.

When weight 47 reaches the lower limit of its movement, its flexiblesupport 46 'willbe rewound and the weight elevated as has already beenexplained. -This can be done very quickly and will interfere little ifany with the correct proportional dosage of the treated liquid.

Itis to be understood that the illustrations herewith presented are moreor less in diagram and the mechanism used can be widely varied withoutdeparting from the invention as claimed. Instead of utilizing twodisplacement chambers, each with a displacement plunger, one or severalsuch chambers can be employed and, instead of supplying one or morechambers with the same chemical preparation, each can be furnished witha dosage material differing from the others.

-What is claimed is: I

1. Apparatus for dosing liquid including a displacement chamber forholding treating .material, displacement means movable into .saidchamber, a motor for receiving power solely from a source independent ofthe liquidunder treatment, said motor constituting,means for driving thedisplacement means, means for conducting displaced material from saidchamber to the liquid under treatment, and rrieansoperated by saidliquid for controlling the of operation of the motor. v

2. Liquid treatment apparatus including a displacement chamber having anoutlet to flowing liquid under treatment, means for supplying treatingmaterial to the chamber, means for shutting off the supply whenthetreating material is brought to a predetermined level, displacementmeans for ejecting material from the chamber to the outlet, a motor forreceiving power solely from a source. independent of the liquid undertreatment, said motor constituting means for driving the displacementmeans, and

speed means actuated by the liquid under treatment for controlling thespeed of operation of the motor and displacement means.

3. Liquid treatment apparatus including a displacement chamber having anoutlet to flowing liquid under treatment, means for supplying treatingmaterial to the chamber, means for shutting off the supply when thetreatingmaterial is brought to a predetermined level, displacement meansfor ejecting material from the chamber to the outlet, and means actuatedby the liquid under treatment for controlling the operation of thedisplacement means, to supply treatment material to the liquid inconstant proportion to the volume of flow of said liquid,

said means including a power driven mechanism for operating thedisplacement means, an escapement actuated by said mechanism, and amotor driven by the treated'liquid for controlling the escapement.

4. Liquid treatment apparatus including a displacement chamber having anoutlet to a conductor for flowing liquid, a displacement plunger in thechamber, power driven mechanism for raising and lowering the plunger,means operated by the actuation of the plunger for reversing the powerdriven mechanism, an escapement operated by said mechanism, and meanscontrolled by the flowing liquid for regulating the operation of saidmechanism.

5. Liquid treatment apparatus including displacement chambers forholding treating material, said chambers having outlets for deliveringmaterial to liquid to be treated, plungers mount-

